In the 1980s, Garfield was everywhere. It’s been widely rumored that Jim Davis, the creator, did so in an attempt to make as much money as it could. Garfield is everything that Bill Waterston didn’t want Calvin & Hobbes becoming which is why he refused to merchandise anything and ended the comic 10 years after it debuted. I like both.
Both dealt with a human interacting with a feline character. Garfield Without Garfield examine the idea that Jon Arbuckle was actually mostly talking aloud to himself as all we saw were Garfield’s thoughts. Regardless, the comic which had been started in 1978 was on fire in the 1980s as a number of TV specials were produced giving the fat tabby a voice through writer/actor Lorenzo Music.
And while most of them were literally cartoonish in their production, they did have some sentiment to them. Here Comes Garfield has Garfield and Odie being thrown in the pound where it’s implied Odie is going to be euthanized the next morning and you see the orange tabby showing some genuine tender feelings toward Odie. And Garfield on the Town has him reunited with his mother who still lives in the Italian restaurant, now closed, where he was when he was a kitten, hence his love of lasagna.
But Garfield’s Halloween Adventure, originally titled Garfield in Disguise, has Garfield and Odie going out trick-or-treating. They are dressed as pirates and they find themselves in a situation where they try to row across a river to some houses on the other side. Odie literally throws out the oars in the water when Garfield tells him so they drift downstream. It’s never been mentioned but Garfield takes place in the Muncie, Ind. area which means they’re probably drifting on White River.
They managed to drift toward land and notice an old house where they go in and discover an elderly creepy man (voiced by C. Lindsay Workman sounding like Christopher Lee) tell them some ghost pirates are coming that night to reclaim some treasure they buried underneath the house 100 years earlier. The switch from a cute, charming story of the furry animals out on Halloween night singing songs (performed by Music and Lou Rawls) to a spooky story is a “nice touch” as Garfield would say.
Davis, along with director Phil Roman, managedto keep the scares down to a minimum and they’re interjected with a lot of humor and goofiness that we know Garfield and Odie will never be in any real trouble. It’s still a Halloween story but it’s for kids. I’m sure a lot of people tuning in have seen worse or told stories to each other.
The special originally aired on this date, Oct. 30, 1985 and was broadcast along with an airing of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on CBS. The special would end up winning an Emmy. The only other contender was Garfield in Paradise which aired in May of 1986. Even if you’re not a big Garfield fan, there’s a lot of humor and a little horror for its 24-minute length.
Music, who passed away in 2001, gives Garfield just the type of sardonic sass he needs for the role. Part of Garfield’s appeal is that he thinks he’s smarter than everyone but finds himself to have the same faults as others, such as his love for his stuffed teddy bear, Pooky. While Jon (voiced by Thom Huge) only appears in two scenes, his absences mostly from the special doesn’t affect it. This isn’t really his story.
So, if you’re looking for something to watch this Halloween, you can do no wrong with Garfield as this and other specials are streaming on Peacock.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 